The present invention relates to a programming device having a software tool for processing objects, of which a first object, equipped with data, is provided as model for a second object that has a pointer with which, at the beginning of an access to the second object, the data of the first object can be incorporated into the second object by the software tool.
Data are often stored in a first object in the form of a type and in a second object in the form of an instance, the type being provided as model for the instance. An instance usually comprises both the instance-specific and the type-specific data, the result being that the type-specific data need to be stored several times in a memory of the programming device. If, for example, n instances are applied to a type, the type-specific data usually need to be stored (n+1) times, which means a very large data volume.
It is an object of the present invention to reduce the data volume in a programming device when creating multiple instances from a type.
This object is achieved with a programming device according to the present invention.
According to the present invention, only the instance-specific data and a reference (pointer) to the type are deposited in the instance. The type-specific data are not incorporated into the instance until a data access to the instance begins.
In an embodiment of the present invention, provision is made for at least one data group of the first object to be depositable by the software tool into the second object, the result being that at the beginning of an access to the second object, the software tool does not incorporate this data group of the first object into the second object.
This makes it possible for a data modification in a type to have either an influence or no influence on the data in an instance constituted with that type. A programmer can thus choose whether future data modifications in the type are to have an affect on the instance data.